Product description

This volume reveals the wisdom we can learn from sailing, a sport that pits human skills against the elements, tests the mettle and is a rich source of valuable lessons in life. Unravels the philosophical mysteries behind one of the oldest organized human activities Features contributions from philosophers and academics as well as from sailors themselves Enriches appreciation of the sport by probing its meaning and value Brings to life the many applications of philosophy to sailing and the profound lessons it can teach us A thought-provoking read for sailors and philosophers alike

Author information

Editor Patrick Goold is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Virginia Wesleyan College. His current research focuses on defining rationality. He is co-editor with Steven Emmanuel of the Blackwell anthology Modern Philosophy from Descartes to Nietzsche . Patrick is passionate about sailing, and, in addition to maintaining a small daysailer and a cruising boat of his own, frequently crews on the boats of others. The bays and sounds of Virginia and North Carolina are his home waters but he has sailed the length of the East Coast of the United States from Hilton Head to Long Island Sound, made a Bermuda crossing, done club racing in Brittany, and cruised in the Lesser Antilles. Series Editor Fritz Allhoff is an Associate Professor in the Philosophy department at Western Michigan University, as well as a senior research fellow at the Australian National University's Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. In addition to editing the Philosophy for Everyone series, he is also the volume editor or co-editor for several titles, including Wine and Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Whiskey and Philosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley, 2009), and Food and Philosophy (with Dave Monroe, Wiley-Blackwell, 2007) . His academic research interests engage various facets of applied ethics, ethical theory, and the history and philosophy of science.

Review quote

"I highly recommend the wisdom filled and engaging book Sailing - Philosophy For Everyone: Catching the Drift of Why We Sail edited by Patrick Goold, to any students who study philosophy, students of any disciplines, practicing sailors, or anyone interested in the great and timeless questions posed by philosophy since the beginning of time. This book is one that you will return to for inspiration, wisdom, and solace again and again." ( Blog Business World , 2 February 2013) "I highly recommend the wisdom filled and engaging book Sailing - Philosophy For Everyone: Catching the Drift of Why We Sail edited by Patrick Goold, to any students who study philosophy, students of any disciplines, practicing sailors, or anyone interested in the great and timeless questions posed by philosophy since the beginning of time. This book is one that you will return to for inspiration, wisdom, and solace again and again." ( MoneyTalks , 3 February 2013) "Edited by a professor of philosophy and with a (very good) foreword by yachting writer John Rousmaniere, this essay collection probes why we sail and what we can learn from it." ( Classic Boat , 1 October 2012)

Table of contents

Foreword: The Craft and the Mystery viii John Rousmaniere The Philosophical Sailor: An Introduction to Sailing -- Philosophy for Everyone xiv Patrick Goold Acknowledgments xxiii PART 1 PASSING THROUGH PAIN AND FEAR IN THE PLACE OF PERPETUAL UNDULATION 1 1 Ships of Wood and Men of Iron: Voyaging the Old-Fashioned Way and Seeking Meaning in Adversity 3 Jack Stillwaggon 2 Winning Philosophy: Developing Patience, Inner Strength, and an Eye for the Good Lanes 12 Gary Jobson 3 "Hard a' Lee": Why the Work of Sailing Can Be Great Fun 23 Crista Lebens 4 Solo Sailing as Spiritual Practice: A Phenomenology of Mastery and Failure at Sea 36 Richard Hutch PART 2 THE MEANING OF THE BOAT THREE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT 47 5 Buddha's Boat: The Practice of Zen in Sailing 49 James Whitehill 6 Freedom of the Seas: The Stoic Sailor 61 Gregory Bassham and Tod Bassham 7 Sailors of the Third Kind: Sailing and Self-Becoming in the Shadow of Heraclitus 72 Steven Horrobin PART 3 BEAUTY AND OTHER AESTHETIC ASPECTS OF THE SAILING EXPERIENCE 83 8 What the Race to Mackinac Means 85 Nicholas Hayes 9 Sailing, Flow, and Fulfillment 96 Steve Matthews 10 On the Crest of the Wave: The Sublime, Tempestuous, Graceful, and Existential Facets of Sailing 109 Jesus Ilundain-Agurruza, Luisa Gagliardini Graca, and Jose Angel Jauregui-Olaiz 11 Navigating What Is Valuable and Steering a Course in Pursuit of Happiness 122 Jesse Steinberg and Michael Stuckart PART 4 PHYSICS AND METAPHYSICS FOR THE PHILOSOPHICAL SAILOR 133 12 Do You Have to Be (an) Einstein to Understand Sailing? 135 Sebastian Kuhn 13 Paradoxes of Sailing: The Physics of Sailing and the Import of Thought Experiments 148 John D. Norton 14 The Necessity of Sailing: Of Gods, Fate, and the Sea 164 Tamar M. Rudavsky and Nathaniel Rudavsky-Brody 15 The Channel: An Old Drama by Which the Soul of a Healthy Man is Kept Alive 176 Hilaire Belloc Notes on Contributors 180